COLUMBUS, Ohio — Standing in the front row of Ohio Stadium, the eight painted Buckeye fans wore the thoughts of all Hawkeye fans on Saturday. Red paint splashed across their chests, the group spelled out “I-O-W-H-A-T?!”
The minds of the Iowa faithful must’ve shared such a sentiment, perhaps adding an expletive as a supplement as the Hawkeyes fell apart in the second half, hampered by turnovers and big plays in yet another loss to a ranked opponent.
The contest’s first half felt like a classic Iowa game — the OSU band formed a Tigerhawk at midfield, the crowd screaming “I” and “O” at the top of its lungs. Yet the “W” never arrived — both in the stands and the box score.
Instead, the second half unfolded like an all-too-familiar nightmare as the Buckeyes pulled away for their 41st conference win in head coach Ryan Day’s six-year tenure at the helm. The talent disparity between the two squads was plain to see, but the Hawkeyes weren’t doing themselves any favors.
Based on its recent performances, no Iowa fan was expecting the Hawkeye secondary to lock down star wideout tandem Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egubka – both of whom will be playing on Sundays in the near future. So it shouldn’t be too shocking to see Smith beat Iowa corner Jermari Harris on an inside route to snag a 53-yard bomb as safety Quinn Schulte lags behind as the help defender.
Yes, it’s not a good look for a first-year collegiate player to leave two six-year seniors in the dust, but that’s the type of talent Day lands at Ohio State. In the era of NIL, the levels of the recruiting game are more visible than they’ve been before. Buckeye athletic director Ross Bjork said in an August interview with Yahoo Sports that Ohio State’s roster costs $20 million. But let’s not make this out to be some sort of David vs. Goliath scenario. It’s one thing to get beat by superior talent, but another to commit mistakes that allow this superior talent to have an advantage.
Take for example Egbuka’s second score of the day. The Hawkeyes line up in man coverage, and somehow outside linebacker Kyler Fisher ends up matched with Egbuka – who races out and up the sideline for a catch. Fisher stayed with the wideout, but never even got his head turned as the pigskin fell right into Egbuka’s lap.
This isn’t a knock on Fisher, he was just put in the wrong position. A majority of college football linebackers have no chance of covering a future NFL draft pick for more than ten yards. Maybe the same would’ve occurred if safety Koen Entringer had been in the game, but it wouldn’t have hurt to try to get a better matchup.
The same pattern can be found in the Hawkeye offense. Quarterback Cade McNamara’s second fumble wasn’t on him, as right guard Connor Colby got bullied on a bull rush by tackle Ty Hamilton, who crossed in front of Colby and hammered McNamara just as the quarterback was about to throw to tight end Luke Lachey over the middle. Not a lot of time to throw against a talented defensive line, such is life in Power Four college football.
However, McNamara’s turnover on Iowa’s first offensive play of the second half was more his own fault. Stepping up in the pocket towards Hamilton and an oncoming Jack Sawyer from the right side may not have been the best option, especially when the left side of the pocket was open for a rollout.
Granted, McNamara delivered some decent throws in the first half to Jacob Gill and Reece Vander Zee, but it’s just frustrating to hear head coach Kirk Ferentz rely on a measuring stick that shouldn’t be used for a fifth-year quarterback with more than 20 starts under his belt. I know it’s a new offensive coordinator and he’s coming off of injury, but to laud McNamara and deny any quarterback controversy because he looked “more comfortable” out there? It’s Week 6 coming off a bye week and that’s the standard? Trying to get back in the groove of things?
Ohio State can successfully alternate between the run and pass game based on defensive coverage while Iowa is still in the process of evaluating its quarterback’s decisiveness. There are levels to this, and Iowa is looking up.
The goal for any football team should be to win every game, and I have no doubt the Hawkeyes want to do this. As Ferentz said, improvement is needed across the board, and progress will once again be tested by a Washington squad that took down No. 10 Michigan Saturday night. The Huskies will most likely be ranked coming into Kinnick, so the Hawkeyes’ next-best opportunity is a week away.
“We can’t throw in the towel now, we have a good team,” McNamara said. “We have good leadership, we have good players, too. We just can’t allow this to derail us because there’s a lot of potential.”
There may not be a playoff spot at stake, but a 10-win season is still possible. Stay tuned.